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Thursday, 11 October 2012

Projection Mapping: Fabrication

With this project one of my learning objectives was to spend a bit more time in the 3d Labs developing an understanding of the construction process. The fabrication aspect of the installation was left in the very capable hands of Chris Starkey, but i was lucky enough to find some time to join him and get my hands dirty.

It was an awesome opportunity to spend some time doing something a little bit different. The large scale of the structure meant that construction was actually quite a impressive feat to follow to fruition, and being part of it gave me my first point of pride in the project to date.

It became clear however that we were too used to the "Move fast, break things" approach and had rushed a fair few key stages early on in the process. We had to try and rectify several measuring errors which were the result of realistically just being a little carless when cutting sections out. Lesson learned, take your time, focus on accuracy as opposed to rushing things to get them done quickly.

Thankfully the resulting sculpture was not beyond fixing, and the small instances where discrepancies are still obvious, can be eliminated with the mapping stage.

Have I met my goal with the learning outcome? If i remember correctly I was aiming to develop a better understanding of the construction process, and to experiment with different canvases. I think the implementation of projection mapping definitely allowed us to explore some different mediums this time round. We looked at canvas or cloth as a medium as it could be seen through and would allow one projector to display on both sides of a central drape, with crowd interaction on both sides. This was brought about by a trip to a video installation at the Gus Fisher gallery (which I ashamedly can't remember the name of, and cant seem to track down) which used a similar 'burlap sack' material as a medium for projected video feed.

We looked at projecting onto water, and onto glass, and experimented by projecting onto reflective surfaces such TV screens and opening up the surrounding environment. All of which was exploratory and interesting. I think it is an important process, and teaches lateral thinking, to step back from your work and ask what could I do differently that I haven't thought of yet. To ask yourself 'am I being closed minded with certain aspects of my work because I want to see particular results as opposed to others?' Or 'Am I too involved with a particular idea that Im missing the fact that no one else is going to pick up on it?'

As far as creative practice is concerned I think one major component for me has always been to spend as much time as necessary in the planning stages, because once you start moving its difficult to stop. I feel the adoption again of the 'Move fast, break things' mentality has impressed on me that it's ok to chop and change, and its ok to make mistakes. I still realize the importance of the planning stage, but i feel i have learnt a lesson through exploring fabrication options, and spending time looking at the project from a tangible viewpoint -that it is possible to spend more time than is necessary in this stage, whilst making little progress at all.